Why I Believe Call of Duty 4 is Set in Saudi Arabia

When Call of Duty 4 hit the shelves there was already a bit of concern over the depiction of the United States battling enemies in the Middle East in a modern setting. Some Islamic groups were concerned that it would increase intolerance towards Muslims, while others were simply frustrated at what they considered to be the "insensitivity" of depicting a conflict so similar to that going on right now in Iraq - and to a lesser extent in Afghanistan.

Pushing aside any potential controversy however, Infinity Ward pushed the game forward, depicting an American invasion of a Middle Eastern country that the game labors to avoid naming. It stands alone throughout the game as the only part of Call of Duty 4 that does not labor to fill the player in with a heavy level of specifics. From Russia to Chernobyl to Azerbaijan to the Ukraine every region comes with a name, leaving the titular absences in the Middle East boggling the mind and ushering investigation.

Fortunately, throughout the game, a number of clues are given that help reveal a great deal of information about this seemingly anonymous body of Arabic land we are invading.

Yahtzee, the popular self described Zero Punctuation Game Reviewer from Escapist Magazine, argues that the nation is clearly Iraq, only with its name undisclosed. However this is both inconsistent with a majority of the satellite imaging used in the game as a prologue to every level and the history that the protagonist, Khalid al-Asad, himself gives.

The leader of the insurgent faction that overruns the Middle Eastern country does not grant many clues unfortunately. Khalid is a common Arabic name and although the Nisba (the closest thing Arabs have to a "last name") usually denotes a geographic region where we could assign the Middle Eastern protagonist from, al-Asad is actually a primarily Syrian name.

The name means "The Lion" and it is actually descended from the time of Muhammad himself. Today, the al-Assads are a powerful family that rules the Ba'ath Party in Syria. For example, President Bashar al-Assad is the current president of Syria, who took over from Hafez al-Assad in 2000. Therefore it is plausible to believe that Khalid himself is of Syrian origin, but because of the nomadic and partitioned history of the Middle East, this does very little to tell us what country he is currently leading. A thousand possibilities could be given to explain why a Syrian now resides in another part of the Orient. Another important thing to understand is that of all the countries in the Middle East, Syria is one of the three that it simply cannot be - as the satellite imaging shows that it is clearly a southern to south-mid nation, not a northern nation like Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, or even Jordan.

The GPS images demonstrate that the Marine missions clearly take place on the Arabian Peninsula. This is remarkably significant - as attested by the fact that the United States is currently locked in a struggle with Islamic militants simply because American troops had ever touched down on this peninsula, much less entered it with hostile intentions. However, the imaging makes it clear that American forces begin their operations inside of the Arabian Peninsula, launching a Black Hawk Down style aerial helicopter assault from the Persian Gulf, swarming the eastern coast line of what is currently Saudi Arabia.

As the game progresses and you fight further in pursuing Khalid al-Asad, you eventually find yourself approaching frighteningly close to the Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina - what appears to be only a few hundred miles between them in the level called "War Pigs". It argues that you are fighting towards the nation's capital - this actually isn't too far off as the capital of Saudi Arabia is actually Riyadh, which isn't too far away from where this level depicts.

However, with the situation on the Peninsula secured, you actually launch an operational assault in a level called Shock and Awe in what the map clearly highlights is Iraq. Based on where the satellite shows you, it is actually in the province just north west of Basra, known as Dhi Qar. The specific place of fighting is the ancient city of Eridu - before it is decimated by Khalid's nuclear weapon and he flees to Azerbaijan.

Now this does not necessarily throw off our search in any way - considering the constantly volatile state of the Middle East, there have never really been any permanent borders for countries there. Therefore it is not entirely implausible to suggest that following the chaos of an American withdrawal from Iraq, southern portions of the nation were enveloped by its neighbors, especially the oil rich south.

The final hints that give the location of the country away are in the opening credits where the player takes control of President al-Fulani, the head of the nation's weak Republic that is ousted in a military coup headed by al-Asad. As you are being driven by your captors, a speech by Asad is broadcast throughout the city, in which he decries your government as a pawn to the West and how despite your promises, you sold out the nation to the United States just like "the monarchy before it".

This fundamentally seals the deal on the location that the fighting occurs. By the time of Call of Duty 4, you are fighting in Saudi Arabia - which is probably no longer referred to as such. Following a revolution that was hinted at by Asad in the opening credits, an Arabian Republic was instituted with Fulani at the head, however he tapped the nation's rich oil reserves to make himself wealthy with the West, not unlike the Saudi Royal Family, and therefore, at the behest of the game's secret protagonists, led a nation-wide attack on Fulani.

While a good portion of the Middle East has respected a monarchy - including Iraq's Hashemite royal family - at one point in their modern history, the only recent one that can be accused of "selling itself" to the West has really been the Saudis.

Therefore, the only possible conclusion is that the game takes place in a post-Saudi Arabia that has enveloped the lower regions of Iraq, taking the ancient Sumerian city of Eridu as its capitol.